WBZ Weather Madness; The Final Division
Hurricane Bob and Hurricane Sandy move on to the "Elite 8" of our WBZ Weather Madness with 67% and 72% of the vote respectively.
Now it's time to tackle our last division of matchups…
Perfect Storm '91 vs. Ice Storm '08
The Perfect Storm was an area of low pressure that absorbed Hurricane Grace and evolved back into an unnamed hurricane late in its life cycle (which is why it's also known as the "No-Name storm"). The storm sank the "Andrea Gail", whose story became the basis for the best-selling novel "The Perfect Storm" and the Oscar-nominated movie in 2000. Waves up to 30 feet struck the coast from Canada to Florida and even Puerto Rico. In Massachusetts, over 100 homes were destroyed or severely damaged. The storm also produced nearly a half a foot of rain in MA and hurricane force gusts on the outer Cape.
The Ice Storm of '08 was the first significant event I covered as a broadcast meteorologist. I had just started working on TV a couple of months prior. This destructive storm brought widespread ice accumulations of 0.50 to 1.00 inch, with locally up to 1.50 inches across the interior of southern New England. There were reports of up to 500,000 customers without power in southern New England alone at the height of the storm, some of which took weeks to restore. Hundreds of trees and branches were damaged or destroyed.
Floods '06 vs. Floods '10
In May of 2006, parts of central and southern New England experienced severe flooding caused by four days of nearly non-stop torrential downpours. The Merrimack River overflowed its banks higher than seen in generations, as up to 17 inches of rain pushed the water to levels not recorded since the flood of 1936, and the great New England hurricane of 1938. Hundreds of residents were forced to flee their homes as other rivers in central and northern New England swelled. Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine declared a state of emergency.
In March of 2010, focus shifted to Rhode Island and southeast Massachusetts where record flooding from three successive nor'easters, dumped record rainfall on southern New England. At Logan Airport, 14.87 inches of precipitation fell, setting a new March record. It was also the 2nd wettest month ever, falling shy of the 17.09" of rain produced mainly by Connie and Diane in August of 1955. Flood impacts were severe with moderate to major flooding of many rivers and streams in southern New England.
You know the drill by this point - vote for whichever event was most memorable/impactful for you.
We move on to the next round tomorrow...
-Danielle
